Jorge Villafaña named to U.S. U-23 Men's National Team training camp roster

CARSON, Calif. (Monday, March 12, 2012) – Chivas USA announced today that Jorge Villafaña has been named to the final roster that will represent the U.S Under-23 Men’s National Team in Olympic qualifying. The official 20-player roster will be finalized March 20, CONCACAF’s due date for all participating teams to submit their rosters.

Jorge Villafaña is one of 13 MLS players on the initial roster. Villafaña, was the winner of ‘Sueño MLS: Chivas USA Wants You” in 2007. He had a stand out 2011 appearing in twenty-five matches, twenty-four as a starter; scoring one goal and one assist in a total of 1,793 minutes.

Internationally, Villafaña first joined the United States U-20 National Team in November 2007 for a training camp in Argentina, where he notched an assist against the River Plate reserves and a goal against the Argentina U-20s. He made the most appearances for the U-20’s of any player in 2008, playing in several international tournaments, including the Copa Chivas (Mexico), the Campos Verdes International Tournament (Portugal), and the Milk Cup (Northern Ireland). In 2009, Flores first helped the U-20’s qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, and played in all three games (two starts) in the U-20 World Cup in late September/October 2009.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.

The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, on March 31 and April 2, respectively. Individual tickets are on sale for all matches in Nashville, Carson and Kansas City.